Media: Hackers from Russia help in preparing referendum in Catalonia

Friday, September 29, 2017 9:00:00 AM

Hackers from Russia are helping to support sites about Catalonia's referendum for independence and keep them operational, reported the newspaper El Pais, citing as a source in the Civil Guard of Spain.

The newspaper notes that after law enforcement agencies blocked the physical channels for preparing a referendum, websites remain the only source of information on the lists of polling stations.

“According to the Civil Guard, a group of hackers in Russia and its satellite countries are constantly creating new links to many duplicate sites about the October 1 referendum, so the Spanish justice authorities and police have not been able to shut them down,” reports El Pais.

It was noted that it is easier for Spain to find a hacker who works from the territory of the EU. In turn, there is no agreement between Russia and the European Union in the area of digital legislation.

After the first official website, referendum.cat, was shut down, President of the Generalitat Carles Puigdemont posted on his Twitter account two new web addresses with servers in the UK and Luxembourg. Both sites are closed by court order. After that, Catalan hackers copied the sites and began to use other countries.

The newspaper said that the process of closing a website abroad is long, because it requires sending a judicial order to the police of another country, who must first evaluate it.

To date, law enforcement agencies in Spain have closed 144 websites related to the referendum.

The paper noted that Russia’s choice in the matter is not coincidental.

“In recent weeks, social networks and political sites in Spain have made the Catalan crisis a trend, the goal of which is to deepen existing contradictions and weaken not only Spain, but the entire EU,” noted El Pais.

It is well known that the referendum on the independence of Catalonia is due to take place on October 1, but Madrid is doing everything possible to prevent it from happening.